Cheer up, Grumpy cat, you're a million dollar megastar: She's got her own agents, bodyguards and lawyer. How one very sour puss is building a money-spinning global showbiz empire

She has a best-selling book, a movie deal and her own ranges of food and coffee.

But could she look any less happy about it? As for the rest — the thousands of soft toys, Christmas cards, calendars, mugs, T-shirts and fridge magnets all bearing her delicate features — well, none of that has improved her mood either.

And as she emerged morosely from a limo for yet another glittering awards ceremony this week — this time to pick up a lifetime achievement gong in New York — it seemed clear nothing would ever put a smile on the face of this particular international megastar.

Maybe just as well. As you might guess from her name, Grumpy Cat’s seven-figure wealth is founded on her frown. The day she stops looking ticked off with the world is the day her millions — yes, millions — of fans will desert her for a rival.

The internet may be the home of all kinds of ugliness, but its insatiable — some might say inexplicable — obsession with cute cat pictures and videos goes some way to make up for that.

And one-year-old Grumpy Cat, a weeny creature with the genetic predisposition to look hugely fed up, is its biggest star.

She has the sort of fan base that would make a human celebrity weep — 116,000 followers on Twitter and 1.6 million fans on Facebook.

Thanks to a single photo posted on an internet site last year, the world’s most feted feline has her own manager, her own lawyer and a burly minder to keep fans from cramping her rather unique style during public appearances.

Her paws are familiar with the soft feel of the red carpet, though never for long as she’s simply too valuable to be left to wander among her public.

Her outings in cities across the U.S. on
her current book tour have provoked hysteria from fans. And not just in
places like New York and Los Angeles.

Centre of attention: Grumpy cat's outings in cities across the U.S. on her current book tour have provoked hysteria from fans. And not just in places like New York and Los Angeles

Last weekend, 800 people turned out to get a snapshot alongside the diminutive star at a bookshop in Arizona, and she had to be sneaked in through the backdoor in the arms of her owner Tabatha Bundesen.

An Internet Cat Video Festival at last month’s Minnesota State Fair attracted a crowd of 10,000, mainly to see the people’s choice award presented to . . . well, you can guess. And you can be sure the winner left her audience in no doubt what she thought of all the fuss.

Depending on your point of view, the Grumpy Cat phenomenon is either touching proof of the internet’s startling power to create celebrities out of nowhere or the final nail in the coffin of modern culture.

Either way, you won’t hear Team Grumpy complaining, particularly the cat’s owner, who was an impoverished waitress and single mother before the family pet turned out to be made of gold.

So how did it all start? As is the usual way with so-called internet memes — images, videos or ideas that circulate rapidly around the web, gathering momentum like a snowball rolling down a mountain — it was complete chance.

Ms Bundesen’s brother, Bryan, an Ohio cable TV technician, visited his sister last September in the tiny town of Morristown, Arizona. He posted a picture of her cross-looking pet, whose real name is Tardar Sauce, on the online news and picture sharing website, Reddit.

Grumpy Cat was born with dwarfism and an underbite, a combination that produced her trademark expression, which is compounded by the frown-like dark fur patches around each eye.

She’s not particularly fluffy or pretty but she has that certain something that many would label as adorable.

‘I thought it would get some laughs,’ says Mr Bundesen, who has a business management degree and now masterminds the cat’s commercial interests. Another Reddit user quickly came up with the nickname ‘Grumpy Cat’ and the rest is internet craze history.

More than a 1.5 million people viewed the photo in just 36 hours. Many started to caption the picture with the sort of thought bubble that might express Grumpy Cat’s irritation with humans.

When people claimed the picture was a fake and the result of Photoshop tinkering, Mr Bundesen proved it wasn’t by posting a video of the pet that also ‘went viral’.

Quickly waking up to the fact that Grumpy Cat’s huge popularity could be translated into cash after cat lovers inundated him with requests for themed T-shirts, he started talking to clothing manufacturers.

By December, the Bundesens and their cat were guests on morning TV shows and had been contacted via YouTube by Ben Lashes, a former rock singer who suggested Grumpy needed a professional manager.

Mr Lashes is an agent for internet cats and people — each of them, like Grumpy, famous because of some entertaining pictures or video that was posted on the web.

Grumpy Cat makes an appearance at Kitson Santa Monica to promote her new book 'Grumpy Cat : A Grumpy Book'

But Grumpy Cat is his big star and the commercial tie-ins show no sign of slowing. She has become the spokescat for Friskies, a popular U.S. catfood brand, and her book, Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book, made the prestigious New York Times bestseller list. T-shirt sales currently stand at more than 100,000 and Christmas cards at 35,000.

From next month, Grumppuccino coffee will go on sale across America and shops have pre-ordered around 100,000 Grumpy Cat soft toys for Christmas. According to New York Magazine, which put Grumpy on its cover last week, the cat is now worth $1 million (£619,000), although given the hysteria, that figure seems a little low.

Owner Tabatha’s not moving to a Palm Beach mansion just yet, but she has been able to leave her job as a waitress at the Red Lobster seafood restaurant chain so she can travel with Grumpy.

She also owns Grumpy’s brother, Pokey, who — in a confusing twist — looks more benign but is actually the more bad-tempered of the pair.

Ms Bundesen has her own light-hearted theories as to why Grumpy might look the way she does. ‘She is not as coordinated as a normal cat, so she is likely a little angry about that.’ She also pointed out that Grumpy technically belongs to her daughter, Chrystal, and that being the pet of an 11-year-old ‘could make anyone grumpy’.

Yes, he told me, he is surprised to be representing a cat. But what has really struck him is how so many people have created this personality for Grumpy — irreverent, bored and unimpressed — just from seeing pictures and videos.

Mr Lashes says his job is to help the Bundesens capitalise on Grumpy’s fame without doing anything so tacky it would upset devotees. (One assumes he did not authorise the Grumpy Cat nipple tassels you can buy online).

Grumpy Cat’s earnings could soar if she makes it to the big screen, which looks increasingly likely.

The Hollywood production company behind films such as Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Jack And Jill, has bought the rights to make a live action feature which will star Grumpy Cat herself — given the power of speech with studio trickery.

Insiders have compared it to the wise-cracking cartoon cat Garfield. ‘This started off as a picture of a cat, but rare is an image that evokes that much comedy,’ says film producer Todd Garner. ‘We think we can build a big family comedy around this character.’

They may have their work cut out in
the editing room as — whisper this — Grumpy Cat is nothing like her
image. When pressed, her ‘people’ will admit she is actually a
sweet-natured creature who loves to sleep and play.

Cat
devotees probably won’t need to have this explained to them, but the
rest of us may still be slightly puzzled. Why such a fuss about cats
and, why in particular, Tardar Sauce?

Bryan
Bundesen says that she ‘looks so grumpy you can’t help but feel happy
when you look at her.’ But surely it can’t be that simple?

Competition: Lil Bub, left, has a rare condition that has left her looking permanently like a kitten and Snoopy Babe, right, who has more than 275,000 followers on China’s version of Twitter

Mr Lashes says it’s down to that timeless appeal of pets: ‘They don’t let you down,’ he tells me. ‘Justin Bieber may end up spitting or getting drunk but with Grumpy Cat you know what you’re going to get — she always hates you!’

But Grumpy has her challengers. There is Lil Bub, a tabby from Indiana, who has a rare condition that has left her looking permanently like a kitten.

The rescue cat was going to be put down less than a year ago, but after she, too, appeared on Reddit, she has built up a media empire that even boasts a web TV show in which she ‘interviews’ guests such as Whoopi Goldberg.

And there’s a Chinese contender, too: Snoopy Babe, who has more than 275,000 followers on China’s version of Twitter.

He has the huge eyes and almost perfectly round face of children’s TV stalwart Bagpuss. Snooby Babe is cute but one wonders if he has Grumpy Cat’s dramatic range — as car maker Henry Ford might say, any expression so long as it’s black.

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Grumpy cat: How one very sour puss is building a money-spinning global showbiz empire